


A Sweet Heart Won

by Lil_Redhead



Series: Shirbert Oneshot + Drabble Collection [15]
Category: Anne of Green Gables (TV 1985) & Related Fandoms, Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: A fix it, F/M, First Kiss, bc i really am not strong enough for the slow burn of awae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 12:14:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21208364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lil_Redhead/pseuds/Lil_Redhead
Summary: In which Anne and Gilbert set aside the foolishness and make up their minds. (Post 3x06)





	A Sweet Heart Won

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't guessed, I really cannot survive through unresolved tension (aka, all of tonight's episode). So I hurriedly wrote this, and while I'm not entirely thrilled with it, I do feel better. I hope that it fills some patches for you, too! ♥

This was not what Gilbert had planned. He’d spent the last year playing his father’s words on repeat in his head like a prayer - _ Finding love will be easy for you, son. You’ll look at her and you’ll know. It won’t make a problem of itself. _At the time, Gilbert couldn’t really find it in himself to remember that his own father had courted a woman before finding his mother. He remembered now, though, sitting across Winnie at their tea table. She sipped delicately at her tea like she always did, and for once, the sight had no effect on Gilbert. 

In fact, all he felt was nausea. 

He knew what she was expecting. She was expecting what all girls expected when the boys courting them for a decent period of time asked them for a serious outing. 

“I did enjoy Avonlea so much. I bet the summertime is absolutely lovely there, what with the shoreline and the cliffs. It’s no wonder you love it there so mu-” 

“Winnie,” Gilbert stated, choking on the word so much that it barely came out. Winifred quirked an eyebrow from her teacup and set the china down with curiosity, nervousness touching her eye just subtly enough that Gilbert perceived it. She saw the thin ice before them, and waited for him to either cross it or crack it.

“Yes?” 

For half a second, he had second thoughts. Was this really the right decision? Beyond this point, he’d never be able to change his mind and take it back. The finality of the words about to leave his lips were as sure as birth and death - the ending of his boyhood, his passionate beginning into being a man. 

But then as soon as the thought came into his head, his heart clenched with a present longing. A small, sad smile on his face, he knew what he needed to do. 

“Winifred, I can’t court you. I’m so sorry.” And just like that, a weight had begun to lift from his shoulders. It felt so good to speak the truth aloud that it continued to tumble over his lips like a prisoner’s confession. “And it isn’t because you aren’t wonderful and beautiful. You are both of those things and more. It’s because-” 

“Anne,” she finished for him, quiet in her heartache. Her lashes fell against her cheek when her gaze turned to the table. He paused, but decided there could be no more shoving down the honest truth. 

“Yes,” was all he said on a breathy whisper. 

“She’s very lovely,” Winifred said, a sad smile on her lips. 

“Yes.” 

Gilbert was unsure of what else he was supposed to say. He wanted to pay her the compliments she deserved - tell her that some man would be unimaginably lucky to take place at her side - but something told him not to rub salt into the wound. 

“I got the impression that she was quite taken with you at the fair,” Winifred confessed. “I never said anything because I didn’t want to overstep an unspoken boundary into dangerous territory.” 

“It’s all dangerous territory when it comes to Anne,” Gilbert replied. He shook his head, remembering once again his father’s words of _ You’ll know. _ His father was right. Even if he didn’t _ realize _ until yesterday, he’d known the truth all along. 

Maybe that’s why he allowed himself to speak it out loud. 

“I like you, Winnie, but I love Anne. In all her imperfections and artistry, I love her. That’s why I can’t court you. I’m sorry.” 

It felt beautiful to say it out loud, to let it loose into the air and to breathe it back in. 

Winifred’s sat still in her chair, gaze alternating between the scone on her plate and Gilbert’s apologetic eyes. She could have splashed her cooling tea in his face, called him a scoundrel, and rushed out of the door. She could’ve cried into her handkerchief, cursed his name, and told Dr. Ward that he should remove Gilbert from his care. 

But she didn’t.

She just blinked away the mistiness in her eyes and pressed her lips into a smile. 

“I want to learn more about your Anne. Tell me about her,” she said. Gilbert averted his gaze to the floor and made a sound of uncertainty. 

“Do you really want to know?” 

“I do,” Winnie confirmed kindly. 

So he told her the story exactly the way he remembered it. He told her of the twinge he felt in his chest when he stumbled upon Anne in the woods, as if something were telling him to pay attention. There were mentions of a broken slate, of sincere apologies, of missing her while he was gone. Winifred’s eyes warmed when Gilbert described how Anne had chopped away all of her hair and later fought so staunchly for Miss Stacy. 

“She was there for us when Mary died, taking care of us as lovingly as she took care of Delphine. Her existence brought light and hope to Mary during her last days. She…” _ Held me when I cried, danced with me until I thought I might burst. _“Sometimes I wonder why it has to be her, but then I walk with her through the woods and see the way she grins into the trees. She’s everything that’s good for me, my soul’s match.” 

For a moment, he’d been so lost in the wilderness of his own thoughts that he’d forgotten he was even speaking aloud. Glancing up with shameful eyes, his lips snapped shut.

“I’m so sorry, it’s unkind of me to confess this all to you.” 

Winifred shook her head.

“I asked you to.” She reached over to took his hand for one last time. “I can’t say I’m not just a bit sorry to learn it, but even more so, I’m happy for you, Gilbert. This is the most confident I’ve seen you.” 

But after saying a final goodbye to Winifred, his confidence drained out of the soles of his shoes and onto the train floor. Hands folded tight in his lap, Gilbert wracked his brain for what to do next. Should he ask Anne to tea? Post on the Take-Notice board? Walk her home? With a sigh, Gilbert leaned his head against the window. None of it seemed right to court Anne with. How could he reach her the way she deserved? How could he match her in all of her exquisiteness? 

*

Anne had made up her mind once and for all. If she was going to win the battle against her constant self-loathing, she would just have to pull herself up by her bootstraps and rid herself of any and all feelings for Gilbert Blythe. The ill feelings had been subtle. She found her stomach twisted in disappointment when she’d catch her own eye in the mirror and that her daydreams had been dull in their content. It seemed that whenever she tried to lose herself in imaginings about the thing she _ really _wanted to daydream about, she couldn’t convince herself that she’d ever truly fit by Gilbert’s side. 

That’s why she was going to take the hat that he’d left at Green Gables - the one he’d forgotten a week ago, but Anne had been holding onto - and march it right up to his front door. She’d knock until he answered and tell him in no uncertain terms that _ I am done pining after you, Gilbert Blythe! Finished! Ended! Terminated! _Finally, she was going to be free of her strange, unwelcomed feelings for Gilbert and could focus on loving herself again. 

Anne swallowed back a lump in her throat. She just wished she could’ve learned to love herself _ and _Gilbert, even if he never returned the affections. 

In the end, Anne didn’t march to Gilbert’s sundrenched home like she planned to. Her feet carried her very slowly along the path, no matter how hard Anne willed them to go faster. The closer she grew to her destination, the thicker her throat felt. She tried to pour courage into herself, but found her voice was caught. When it finally came time to knock on his door, Anne swallowed and rapped her knuckles against the wood. 

Thankfully it was Gilbert that answered, and not Bash. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to explain to the kind-hearted man what she’d come to do. There was a more pressing problem now, though, and it was staring at her with the most beautiful hazel eyes Anne had ever seen. Her own vision began to blur over. Why did he have to look at her like that? Why did he always have to make things so difficult when they were already hard enough? 

“Anne, please, come in!” Gilbert said, stepping out of door-frame, but Anne stayed put. When he caught how her gray-green eyes had turned dark, he frowned. “Is everything alright?” 

“Yes, I just came to tell you something.” 

“Oh.” Gilbert blinked. “What is it?” 

The blurriness in her eyes worsened and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep the tears from spilling over. _ Come on, Anne, you can do it, _ she told herself. _ Just a few words, then it’s over. Then it’s all over. _

“You forgot your hat,” she blurted. She pushed the hat into his chest and spun on her heel, taking off down the steps. 

“Thanks…?” Gilbert called out, but she was already several paces away. 

Then, an invisible force made Anne halt where she stood. She barely recognized her own voice when she called out, “Wait.” 

To her surprise, Gilbert was still standing on the porch when she turned around. His gaze on her was unsure and sad as she made her back up to the stairs, but the closer she got, the more she noticed _ pleading. _

He was a breath’s space away, and she craned her head to look up at him. From up close, she could see his own brown freckles and wondered for a moment if he got them from working in the sun or if he had inherited them from his mother. 

“That isn’t what I came to say,” she said quietly. 

“I assumed as much,” he replied with an even voice that contradicted the troubled expression on his face. “What did you come to say?” 

“Hold on a moment, please, I’m working up to it,” she said, her breath coming shorter and shorter. She was so close. Gilbert was seconds away from pulling her to sit down, but she couldn’t let him get that far. All that she needed to do was take a deep breath and- 

“I’ve been falling in love with you.” 

Electricity shot between the two of them as an exhaled gasp shot out of Gilbert, as if someone had punched him in the gut. 

“Anne-” 

“No, just let me say what I need to say, okay?” she begged. He should’ve stopped her right there, but the desperation on her face stopped him.

“Alright,” he said gently. 

Anne inhaled a deep breath of the summer air and began to speak. 

“I’ve been falling in love with you for...goodness, probably since the beginning, but I didn’t realize until just recently. I came here to tell you that starting today, I’m letting it go. I came to tell you that I want nothing more than to see you happy and that I think Miss Rose is a refined, wonderful young woman. It’s clear how pleased you are to have her at your side. But I have to let you go for a while so that I can respect you and your choices without hoping from afar that you would’ve chosen me.” 

A few tears trailed down her cheeks as she lifted a hand to the side of his face. 

“You are the most admirable, wonderful person I know. You’re unrepeatable, Gilbert Blythe, and I wish you every single one of life’s happinesses.” His gaze so heavy in its molten gold that Anne turned her gaze to the ground. “Anyway, that’s what I came to say.” 

She began to move her hand, but his came up to hold her touch to his face. He leaned his cheek into her palm and smiled against the soft skin. 

“Are you done?” he asked gently. Anne nodded, brows furrowed in apprehension.

“Yes, I’m done.” 

Gilbert turned his head and pressed his lips to her palm. 

“Anne, I’m not courting anyone. Winifred and I are just going to be friends.” 

The shock of it made Anne retrieve her hand, and she held it to her chest. 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said politely, though her tone suggested her mind was elsewhere. 

“I’m not,” Gilbert stated. Anne’s gaze snapped up to his. “I’m really not. I told Winifred that there was someone else that I love. Someone that belongs at my side.” 

A tear slipped down the side of Anne’s nose and she nodded, unsure if she could withstand hearing who it was. Gilbert reached over, grabbed her hands and tugged her forward a step. 

“_ You, _Anne.” 

Her eyes went wide.

"_Me?”_

“Yes, you frustratingly lovely girl, _ you _. Does that honestly surprise you?” 

“Of course it surprises me!” she exclaimed. “There was a time when I _ hoped _that you’d one day grow to care, but I don’t think I ever believed you actually might. Gilbert Blythe, you’re certain? Me?” 

With that, Gilbert’s eyes flooded with afternoon warmth and Anne felt like she was turning into a million sunsets all at once. The lovesickness in his eyes was all for _ her. _His tender, soft hands finding their way to her waist meant to hold her, and Anne let herself be pulled into his embrace. She laughed into his shirt, and it came out on sobs as she pulled his as close to her as she could. Gilbert tightened his hold on her, squeezing his eyes against the growing wetness on his lashes.

“I don’t think I would’ve been able to stop caring for you,” she admitted, burying her face into his neck. Then, giggling in delight she squeezed him. “I’m so, so _ happy! _” 

“Me too,” said Gilbert as he pulled back. His fingers entwined together with Anne’s, and she shook them in delight, waiting for to say whatever was at the tip of his tongue. “What now?” 

Anne chuckled and shrugged, the corners of her eyes wrinkling with her smile. 

“I guess we start courting,” she said. “Though I haven’t the faintest idea how to go about that.” 

“As far as I understand it, we’re supposed to go on walks and talk about mundane things like last Sunday’s sermon,” he explained. 

“I think I’d much rather hear of _ you _, Gilbert. Your dreams, your thoughts, your fears. I want to hear everything you’d ever want to tell me.” 

“Only if you return the favor,” he replied smoothly. 

“You know I never exhaust of interesting stories,” she replied, biting her lip playfully. 

“Something I am exceedingly glad for!” he laughed. His chuckled petered out as reality set in. He was holding Anne’s hands. She had traveled all the way across the field to tell him that she loved him. She was here right now smiling up at him with the sweetest expression he’d ever witnessed, and his heart let out a sigh of delight. How could he ever show her just what she meant to him? This was still unfamiliar territory, but he wanted to venture into it as soon as humanly possible.

“I’d like to try something,” Gilbert stated somewhat shyly. Anne seemed to see right through him.

“Alright,” she agreed. 

He was going to kiss her. He was going to lean down, and press his lips to hers and try his best not to spontaneously combust. As he bent over, a grin formed on Anne’s face and she tilted her head upwards. 

At the last moment, he panicked, and landed on her cheek. Anne still delighted in the gesture, smiling wider beneath his kiss. When she pulled back, she spared a glance at the sky.

“I ought to be going back now. I never told Marilla I was leaving.” 

Gilbert bit his lip to hide his disappointment, and he nodded.

“I’ll come and see you tomorrow.” 

“Please do!” she beamed. 

She let her gaze linger on his, the way it always seemed to, before she winked and spun off on her heel. She couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder to see if he was still watching, and smothered a growing smile to find that each time he was still grinning at her from the doorway. 

This time it was Gilbert’s turn to call out, “Wait!” 

Anne only had time to turn around by the time Gilbert had leapt over the porch stairs and taken her face in his hands. His lips were on hers before she could ask what was wrong. It only lasted a second, but it was enough time for all the hairs on her arms to stand on edge and for her heart to nearly burst out of her chest. 

“‘Til tomorrow,” he said, pressing one last kiss to her cheek.

“And the next day,” she added. 

Gilbert decided that he liked the sound of that. He’d see her the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after...

**Author's Note:**

> If you need a pal to chat with, I'm on tumblr ~ @royalcordelia


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